Graves: ‘It’s not her damn decision’ on gun control

Saturday

Jan 26, 2013 at 8:13 AMJan 26, 2013 at 8:15 AM

Rep. Graves lashes out at Sen. Feinstein during meeting in Kirksville Friday

Taylor Muller/@TaylorMullerKDE

Missourians will likely see little change at the national level in the gun control debate, the congressman for northern Missouri told a group of business leaders and residents during a constituent meeting in Kirksville Friday.

U.S. Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.) said he believed despite national attention on gun control laws and efforts, in particular since the mass shooting and killing of 26 school children and staff at Sandy Hook Elementary in Conn., that the U.S. House would not allow broad gun control measures to pass, citing it “doesn’t have the appetite.”

“Every single thing that’s been proposed would not have prevented [Sandy Hook] one bit,“ Graves said during an town hall-style meeting with about 80 business and local leaders.

“You’re not going to see anything,” he said. “It’s a Second Amendment issue and it needs to be protected.”

His statement came a day after U.S. Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.) unveiled a bill that would ban the manufacture of more than 150 assault weapon-style firearms across the nation in an attempt to dwindle the supply of firearms.

Graves’ answers came after a citizen question regarding the mood in Washington, which he described as “down.”

“I was there the other day during the inauguration and it was depressing,” Graves said.

Graves opened the discussion with talk on the “fiscal cliff” negotiations and the Congressional failure to pass a Farm Bill beyond a temporary extension.

He noted a deal on the debt ceiling limit passed by the House that will require the Senate pass a budget before May or lawmakers would forfeit their salaries, which was met by applause.

“It’s not a revenue problem, it’s a spending problem,” Graves said, as he called for lawmakers to consider cuts across the board, including within the national defense budget.

“To be quite honest, we have to be careful with the defense budget, but there’s no reason they can’t do a little better job and pare back,” he said.

In answer to a question about what successful efforts Congress has undertaken, Graves pointed to the reauthorization of both the Federal Aviation Administration and the U.S. Coast Guard and the support of a small business program for business loans.